The field of the present disclosure relates generally to battery systems and, more specifically, to a lightweight battery containment apparatus for housing a plurality of battery cells in spacecraft and other vehicles.
At least some known vehicles include one or more battery packs for providing power to electrical systems of the vehicles. Battery packs generally include a plurality of individual battery cells positioned within a battery containment apparatus. The battery cells are coupled together, either in series or in parallel, to provide power to the electrical systems of the vehicle. In the aerospace industry, the battery containment apparatus is designed to account for various considerations that facilitate efficient operation of the vehicle. For example, when used in at least some known spacecraft, the battery containment apparatus is designed to be lightweight, capable of thermally insulating the battery cells, and formed from material having a coefficient of thermal expansion closely matched with the battery cells. As such, components of the battery containment apparatus are typically formed from a metallic material such as aluminum. Components formed from metallic materials are generally fabricated by machining a work piece into a desired shape. However, machining a metallic work piece can be a time-consuming and laborious task, and the shape of the final product is generally limited by the machining process. Moreover, components formed from metallic material are generally good thermal conductors, which sometimes requires thermally isolating the battery cell from the associated vehicle. In addition, metallic material is generally electrically conductive, which can result in the formation of electrical shorts within the battery cell.
In one known aerospace application, such as a spacecraft utilizing all-electric propulsion, the mass efficiency of the battery cell assembly is of particular importance. Typically, ion propulsion systems are extremely efficient, but also have very low thrust capabilities. This can result in long transfer orbit duration to geosynchronous orbit, which can delay the service start date of the satellite. As such, an overall design goal for at least some known spacecraft is to reduce the mass of components loaded thereon to enable the accommodation of additional revenue generating payload without increasing transfer orbit duration.